Anthea Kalathas
Hello! I’m Anthea, and I have been a gymnastics coach at the Twisters Northcote Venue for 3 and a half years. Some of you may not know, but I also went to Twisters myself, and only stopped competing gymnastics at Twisters at the start of 2023.
To take you back in time, I started gymnastics at the age of 6 in 2012 at Twisters when they were still at the Santa Maria venue. I instantly fell in love with the sport! I became a competitive gymnast, and after moving to MLC gymnastics for 2 years, returned to twisters in 2015 and continued there up until the start of year 12. I have met so many coaches, and lifelong friends at Twisters while being in the squad where I competed in programs ranging from ALP, Gymstar, and AGC in my final year.
At the age of 15, my life was and always had been revolved around gymnastics, being known as the “gymnastics kid” for all of primary school. Gymnastics allowed me to advance in an area of my life and became such a personal and important constant, whilst also being SO FUN. When going to Twisters 10+ hours a week, it became a second home, therefore the people and the energy I was surrounded by has shaped me into the person I am today. Consequently, in year 10, becoming a coach felt like the natural step to take.
I know many coaches did gymnastics at some point, but what was unusual for me was coaching whilst still training 3 times a week at Twisters. Essentially, I was working at the same place which was my escape. I had to balance being goofy and silly with my friends whilst training and being responsible and professional during work. It was quite a transition!
When I started coaching my whole perception on training and gymnastics shifted. I was no longer training from a gymnast perspective but also a coach, I started correcting my own technique on skills more, began further understanding the drills we were partaking in to improve and also had more of a personal drive to get better in gymnastics whilst acknowledging the hard work my coaches at the time, Mollie and Caylie put in.
Something that did surprise me, was even with years of gymnastics knowledge, coaching was a whole different ballpark. Not only are you teaching the sport, your also building rapport with kids, running a class effectively, and allowing children to grow through movement and making little accomplishments on the way. Being able to share my love for the sport has been amazing, and seeing kids that remind me of myself at their age is always nice to see!
After transitioning from gymnast to gymnast and coach, to finally just a coach, I have seen so many different aspects of gymnastics and I am still learning new things at Twisters every day. And although I no longer actively participate in gymnastics, I still get the urge to chuck some flips on the trampoline after my shift to make sure I still got it!
